Chapter III · The Making · Section 5: In Tang context — reading “茶之芽者发于丛薄之上有三枝四枝五枝者选其中枝”

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Thesis

“茶之芽者发于丛薄之上有三枝四枝五枝者选其中枝” only becomes legible inside Tang tribute tea, monastery tea and literati life.

Text

“The buds that sprout from dense thickets, with three, four, or five shoots, are picked by selecting those that rise most boldly.”

Context

芽者：细弱的芽叶。丛薄：草木丛生的低矮处。颖拔：突出、挺拔。

Evidence

• Collation: 各本一致。吴觉农注：此句承上文"笋者上芽者次"，讲细芽如何择优而采。
• Existing readings: 吴觉农指出：陆羽对"笋者"与"芽者"分而述之，说明唐代采茶已按芽叶老嫩分级采摘——"选其中枝颖拔者"即是"挑芽"工艺的雏形。

Analysis

The largest gap between Tang and now is that tea was simultaneously medicine, tribute and everyday practice. 吴觉农指出：陆羽对"笋者"与"芽者"分而述之，说明唐代采茶已按芽叶老嫩分级采摘——"选其中枝颖拔者"即是"挑芽"工艺的雏形。 Without that, the chapter collapses into botany.

Conclusion

The section does not give a universal rule. It demonstrates a method: read the text, the annotation and the Tang context together before making a modern claim.

Source: The Classic of Tea, Chapter III · The Making, section 5; the original is in the public domain.

Storage adds another variable: moisture and temperature. 各本一致。吴觉农注：此句承上文"笋者上芽者次"，讲细芽如何择优而采。 Old and young tea do not share one shelf life, so “the older the better” is not a rule.

As a new reader, I first took “茶之芽者发于丛薄之上有三枝四枝五枝者选其中枝” as a conclusion. Reading the annotation to section 5 again, it is clearly a judgment with conditions attached.

Textually, 各本一致。吴觉农注：此句承上文"笋者上芽者次"，讲细芽如何择优而采。. The point is that “the original” is not a single stable text; name the edition before making a strong claim.